Raccoons will eat whatever their environment provides. In the rural environment, they eat insects, nuts, worms, frogs, shellfish, fish, mammals, birds, eggs, grubs, snakes, and fruits. In agricultural areas, they may feed on corn crops, poultry and garden and orchard vegetables and fruits. In urban settings, an easily opened garbage can is hard for them to resist. They are nocturnal but are occasionally active in daytime.I have worked with feral cats for years, and I have seen and heard a lot about how raccoons and cats interact. It is very likely that the mama cat was trying to defend her kittens from the raccoon (the raccoon probably didn't intend to harm the kittens, but the mama doesn't know this), and she ended up getting into a fight with a raccoon and was killed or injured. A cat will not win a fight with a raccoon, since the raccoon is larger and stronger. Raccoons also scare feral and stray cats away from food and will sometimes attack the cats to get food. The cat is usually severely injured or killed over the food. This is not an indication that the raccoon has rabies, but is a normal survival instinct for the raccoon to try to obtain food from a weaker animal. To respond to another person's post in this thread, a raccoon might eat a cat, but would probably not kill the cat just to eat it. The cat could have been killed (maybe by a different raccoon, possibly by the same raccoon), then the hungry raccoon came across the body and decided to have a meal.Raccoons do not eat cats , though I have seen where cats have been killed/seriously injured in a scrap over a food source or in territorial displays... This past spring I had a call from an elderly lady with a large(45lb) raccoon sleeping in the cat box in her porch...her cat was dead on the floor a few feet from the sleeping coon after losing a fight for the food left in the dish in the porch... It had entered through the clothesline door she left open every night for the cat ... If that were the case for you though , your cat would be lying somewhere in your yard and the kittens would still be nearby... Coyotes/foxes however , do LOVE to eat cats if they are out and about after dark... In my area many cats also disappear because neighbours discreetly rent and set a live-trap when they are not fond of free-ranging cats in their yard every night... This likely accounts for a large number of the feral/stray cats in many cities/towns... Cats are also known for quirky behaviour as well ... It is entirely possible she'll turn up again in a few days/weeks if she has in fact simply moved the kittens for safety sake due to the presence of the raccoons... Good Luck...Jeff / Pro-Trap They are omnivorous and eat a variety of foods, including dog and cat food left outdoors, frogs, salamanders, farm crops or raid chicken coops, fish, amphibians, shellfish, insects, birds, nesting waterfowl, raw eggs, nuts, mice, berries, vegetation, corn and human garbage and sometimes small kittens.